Who is your ghost? I read you should name yours, so I named mine...
SETTINGS AND EQUIPMENT
FIGURE 8
A good training method is to pick a course that you don't regularly race on. I use Tempus Fugit a lot, so I may pick the Figure 8 course for this. I will ride it to establish a base mark. Then I will go at it trying to match my ghost only at 1 or 2 kg heavier.
VOLCANO CLIMB
Some will start with a time trial bike, then move to a slower bike. First I do this course on my Zwift Time Trial bike. Let's say I finish at 35:00. Now, I race McFly riding my Trek Madone. Matching McFly on a slower road bike means technically I rode 35 seconds faster. Third Effort is on a Zwift Steel Bike which is 51 seconds slower. This way I can ride side by side with McFly and still be getting a better workout. After all, what is the point of a ghost if you leave them far behind?
ALP d' ZWIFT
A similar method is to ride your favorite climbing course, like the Alp with various bicycles. In this case, I will start with the slowest, the Buffalo (bargain priced) and gradually choose faster bikes. I will try to get just a bit faster each ride. I'll have confidence I can beat Mcfly because I have this little edge to motivate me. Here's a sample of bikes I will be using and their times at 4 w/kg:
- Buffalo bike 50:49
- Zwift Time Trial 50:29
- Zwift Steel 49:57
- Zwift Aero 49:15
- Edmonda 48:59
LONDON LOOP
I do this at a steady even effort under FTP, maybe right between the green and the yellow zones on the graph. Second Effort is a small burst of speed at the start to get slightly ahead ( 3 seconds or so) and then hard press on the climb and 30 second sprint at the end before the banner. Third Effort is a hard start (like Zwift races) for a full minute getting a decent gap (10 or 15 seconds), then hold it so the gap stays steady. Now blast that Box Hill and jump at the one minute to go mark Remember, McFly will attack hard at the 30 seconds to go mark. Can you power all the way to the finish?
BOLOGNA
This ghost is a great learning tool to show how you need to pace your effort and use your strength on the hill. On a Tron bike at 4 w/kg the first 6 km of mostly flat Bologna course was 8:49 with 9:23 up that darn hill for an 18:12 total time.
Now after your steady effort ride, ghost that with your second effort. The sample ride was 270 watts for the first 6 km and then a higher 330 watts on the hill. The flat was slower at 9:12 (23 seconds behind). But the climb landed at 8:36 (saving 47 seconds!) for a total time of 17:46. The second effort may average about 300 watts but was 26 seconds faster than that first effort.
Third effort can attempt a slightly faster start. But have you saved enough energy to beat McFly on the last part of the climb? This will truly teach you how to race this course. You will be able to apply it towards any hilly course. But wait, there's one more.
TICK TOCK
Intervals. Your first effort will have a few mid-paced sprints. Go extra hard for 20 to 30 seconds and recover back to main pace. Don't soft pedal, remember this is more of a break away effort and you must maintain a good pace. Try one for every five minutes of the course If you go too hard, your speed will suffer too much while you struggle to recover.
Second Effort is more steady. Let McFly get ahead on that sprint. When that burst is over raise your pace just a bit and see how long it takes you to recapture your ghost. These slightly above FTP intervals (like an Over/Under Workout) will be faster than a steady effort. You will eventually find the right pattern that suits you, be it 5 seconds or 30. You'll learn how to pick up the pace for short bursts, a must in races.
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